A new month

"America... just a nation of two hundred million used car salesmen with all the money we need to buy guns and no qualms about killing anybody else in the world who tries to make us uncomfortable." - Hunter S. Thompson

Welcome to National Poetry Month, National Women's History Month, and National Kidney Month.

In their March/April issue, the magazine formerly known as the Harvard Gay and Lesbian Review published three essays about the election (down from a Jan/Feb issue understandably almost totally devoted to how much America hates us). This month, the election has been rehashed by NGLTF's Creating Change conference director Sue Hyde; "San Francisco radical queer activist organization" Gay Shame founder and Edmund White "I have seen the future and it is [your book]" blurb recipient Matt Bernstein Sycamore; and me. My essay comes in parts 1 2 3 and 4.

Also, it has been brought to my attention that an SF Weekly columnist cited my San Francisco persona "Mary Chicago", which was invented essentially for the sole purpose of springing from jail my friend who was at the time putting me up. I figured, hey, somebody gives you a place to crash in America's most expensive city, the least you can do is try to get him out of jail. He had been taken into custody for - of all things - protesting the inclusion in the Gay Pride Parade of what Scribner's Encyclopedia of GLBT History of America called "moderate heterosexual mayoral candidate" (and the Weekly called longtime Gay Shame "bogeyman") Gavin Newsom. Sigh.

Oh: I passed my orals!


P.S. Madison possibly-interested-in-queer-history commentator: please do do me the kindness of dropping me an email, so I can know at least a little bit more about you. Yes. You may reach me at timsw at uchicago, et cetera.

P.P.S. Matt Bernstein Sycamore simply wouldn't stop talking about me in his little essay. Does he have a secret crush on me?